Weekly Briefing with Jonathan Chambers

Co-ops Connect FYI

Rural broadband insights for closing the digital divide

Conexon’s widely read Co-ops Connect FYI newsletter by Conexon co-CEO Jonathan Chambers provides the latest industry updates, news and views for electric cooperatives and other community organizations operating or considering rural broadband networks.

Newsletters are published here each week as new issue is released.

Latest

After the Storms

October 18, 2024

Every season in which natural disasters are more devastating than anticipated, Congress must appropriate supplemental funds to help repair the destruction they cause.

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Past editions

The Aftermath of Hurricane Helene

October 4, 2024

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A Leading Lights Award

September 27, 2024

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The State of America’s Politics

September 13, 2024

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Can We Learn?

September 6, 2024

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The River

August 30, 2024

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Just in Case...

August 16, 2024

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Cassandra, Part II

August 9, 2024

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More Lessons From Our Broadband Leaders

August 2, 2024

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Joe Biden

July 26, 2024

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And the Razzie Awards for Poor Broadband Choices Goes to…

July 19, 2024

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More Lessons From Our Broadband Leaders

July 12, 2024


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Yankee Doodle Dandy

July 5, 2024

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Lessons From Our Broadband Leaders

June 21, 2024

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Locates

June 14, 2024

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How to Jump-Start BEAD: Replicate Kentucky’s Pole Replacement Program Nationwide

June 7, 2024

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Cassandra

May 31, 2024

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A Race to Build

May 17, 2024

To inspire builders to build while they waited for funds, I proposed that the Commerce Department tell the states to adopt a “look back” provision so anything built to BEAD-eligible locations before funds were available would be reimbursed.

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Why the FCC Let the Affordable Connectivity Program Die

May 10, 2024

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A Tax on Rural Broadband Construction

May 3, 2024

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Why Not 100 Percent?

April 26, 2024

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Star Wars

April 19, 2024

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The Power of a Network of Co-op Networks

April 12, 2024

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Electric Cooperative Broadband: Living History

April 5, 2024

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Milestones: 100% Access

March 29, 2024

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Should the FCC Grant Amnesty to RDOF Recipients?

March 22, 2024

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Will NTIA’s Rate Regulation Derail or Merely Delay BEAD?

March 15, 2024

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A Time to Build: Don’t Wait for BEAD

March 8, 2024

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Is BEAD For You?

March 1, 2024

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Remember Alexei Navalny

February 23, 2024

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The Kansas City Chiefs

February 16, 2024

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The Best Availability Is Affordability

February 9, 2024

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God Save Us From People Who Mean Well

February 2, 2024

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I Get Email

January 26, 2024

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The King of Copper

January 19, 2024

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Playing Politics with the Poor: The Affordable Connectivity Program

January 12, 2024

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What Every Reader of These Posts Knows

January 5, 2024

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Happy Birthday, Conexon!

August 11, 2023

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AT&T's Fixed Wireless Play

August 4, 2023

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Know Your Numbers

July 14, 2023

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Don't be a Goldfish

July 7, 2023

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Where Did The Money Go?

June 16, 2023

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The New National Broadband Map

June 9, 2023

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I Get Email

June 2, 2023

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Privilege

May 26, 2023

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This Is What Leadership Looks Like

May 19, 2023

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As We Anticipate New Broadband Maps

May 12, 2023

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The Newest Face of Community Broadband Owership

May 5, 2023

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AT&T Should Change Its Name to UST&T (The Urban Suburban Telephone & Telegraph Company)

April 28, 2023

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Selling Belief, Not Broadband

April 21, 2023

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In Memory of My Wife, Dana Joy Hyde

March 17, 2023

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Fiber to Every Rural Home Requires Innovation

March 3, 2023

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A Simple Questions for Congress: What Did You Mean by Offered?

February 24, 2023

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Is Fixed Wireless Reliable?

February 17, 2023

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More Waste, Fraud, and Abuse: Charter Takes Public Funds to Build 10 Mbps Network

February 10, 2023

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Know Your Numbers: Unserved and Underserved Locations in Electric Co-op Service Territories

February 3, 2023

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Rural Homes Count

January 27, 2023

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Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Rural Broadband Programs

January 20, 2023

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What to Expect of the Service Level Challenges to the National Broadband Map

January 13, 2023

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Two New Year's Intentions for Rural Broadband

January 5, 2023

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Thank You for Reading

December 30, 2022

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Do You Believe in Miracles?

December 23, 2022

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Could New Rural Broadband Cooperatives Work?

December 16, 2022

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How Should BEAD Programs Take Consumer Preference into Account?

December 8, 2022

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The Map Has Problems (But It’s Good Enough for the BEAD Allocation)

December 2, 2022

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Happy Broadband Map Day!

November 18, 2022

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Top Takeaways from Conexon Co-ops Connect 2022

November 10, 2022

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Happy One-Year Anniversary, Infrastructure Act

November 4, 2022

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An Election Day Memory: Tu Voto Es Secreto

October 28, 2022

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Shocker: AT&T Fined $23M for Bribing a Government Official

October 21, 2022

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Fiber to Every Rural Home: BEAD is More Than Enough

October 14, 2022

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Electric Cooperatives, A Uniquely American Institution

October 7, 2022

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How to Manage the Challenge of Challenges

September 23, 2022

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Our Broadband Future Lies Not in Starlink, But in Ourselves

September 16, 2022

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Enough Secrecy: Make the Data Public

September 9, 2022

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Building An Efficient State Broadband Program: Florida

September 2, 2022

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Avoiding the Train Wreck of Broadband Mapping

August 25, 2022

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The Challenge Process, Phase 2

August 19, 2022

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A Comparison Between the FCC’s Location Fabric and Actual Broadband Serviceable Locations

August 12, 2022

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Preparing to Challenge the FCC’s Broadband Location Fabric

August 5, 2022

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A Public Service Announcement from NTIA (and My Interpretation)

July 29, 2022

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Protect Your Service Territory: A Brief History of Federal Broadband Funding

July 22, 2022

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Shalom From Jerusalem

July 15, 2022

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Long-Term Inflation Remedy: Build a Fiber Network, Cut the Cord

July 8, 2022

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Washington, DC: My Hometown

July 1, 2022

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The Ownership Difference

June 24, 2022

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Before the Broadband Gap, There’s a Mapping Gap to Be Addressed

June 17, 2022

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Right Hand, Meet Left Hand: The FCC, NTIA, and Broadband Funding

June 10, 2022

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No Broadband at Home? Your State’s Broadband Office May Choose Not to Believe You

June 3, 2022

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Will T-Mobile Distort the Broadband Funding Allocation to States?

May 27, 2022

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The NTIA NOFO: We’re in Campaign Mode

May 20, 2022

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Poor Service for Poor People: The White House’s New Broadband Plan

May 13, 2022

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State Challenge Regimes That Will Kill Rural Broadband: The Bienville Story Continues

May 6, 2022

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Must Broadband Funding Be Fought for Block by Block, Street by Street, House by House?

April 29, 2022

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Persistent Poverty Counties and Broadband: A Deeper Dive

April 22, 2022

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A Simple Proposal to Help Rural Persistent Poverty Counties

April 15, 2022

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TV, or Not TV – That is the Question

April 7, 2022

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How to Prevent Being Duped, Bamboozled, Hoodwinked, Hornswoggled or Pettifogged

April 1, 2022

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High-Cost vs. Unserved: Two Different Ways to Fund Broadband in Rural America

March 25, 2022

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The American Covenant: Two Conversations From My Time at the FCC

March 17, 2022

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The Best Approach to Rural Broadband that No State or Federal Agency Will Adopt

March 11, 2022

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A Pause from Broadband to Honor the People of Ukraine

March 4, 2022

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ReForm ReConnect: A Proven Approach

February 25, 2022

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Eligibility Criteria: Unfunded and Unserved Is Unworkable

February 18, 2022

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10 Steps to Set Up and Administer an Efficient State Broadband Program

February 11, 2022

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‘Reasonably Comparable’: The Root Cause of the Digital Divide

February 2, 2022

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The Federal Communications Commission and the Death of Expertise

January 27, 2022

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Infrastructure Act Rural Broadband Funding: Disincentive to Build in 2022?

January 21, 2022

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Defining Broadband: The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations

January 14, 2022

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Broadband billions are at stake

January 7, 2022

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